Unriddled
by rosebud1000
Summary: Scorpius and Albus are looking forward to their sixth year, after their adventures in their fourth. At first, everything is going okay, and a strong friendship with Rose is returning. But when strange things starts to happen, what will they uncover? (Fully summary inside.)
1. Prologue

**Summary:** Scorpius and Albus are looking forward to their sixth year, after their adventures in their fourth. At first, everything is going okay, and a strong friendship with Rose is returning. But what exactly were those "Safe-Objects" of Voldemort's the Golden Trio have told the world about? Why does Albus randomly experience the effects of dementors? And what exactly did Delphi mean when she said she was following in her father's path?

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter (this disclaimer covers all future chapters)**

* * *

Prologue

Delphini Riddle did not need a disguise to enter Knockturn Alley. Her hooded cloak was quite enough to cover the face so like her mother's, and if she resembled her father, none could tell. She may have looked like him, back before his eyes turned to slits, his skin to paper, and his hands to spiders. But few living people had ever seen Tom Riddle Jr, and if they had, they certainly weren't the type of people to be in Knockturn Alley.

She slipped into Borgin and Burkes with the deathly silence of a dementor, not even a footstep left behind. Perhaps she was gliding, just an inch above the ground, or perhaps not. Her fingers skimmed the many objects, pulling away just long enough to avoid the ones with signs that read do not touch.

The store, as always, was covered in a thin layer of dust, each object's beauty muted by the filth. The dim light made it hard to see, but the sunless sky in the alley beyond didn't hold the full blame. Jewelry rested on cushions, bones rattled in their glass, and material curses lay waiting on the shelves. A full skeleton was hung in the corner, and next to it were tables, chairs, wardrobes, and cabinets. Everything in this place was guilty of something, be it death, curses, or enchantments. The air was filled with magic, and not the kind the Ministry liked.

Delphi continued to gaze at the items; searching, hungry, for the one that would help her. None of them seemed right. Perhaps they were too big, too small, too shiny, too dull. Again, only she knew the answer. The other customers paid her no mind: Just another one of them, finding the object she needed most.

Finally, she found it. It was an old hairclip, worn dull with time, gems missing from the flowered pattern. Made of gold, emeralds, diamonds, jade, and many other rare finds, it would be even more expensive with a simple washing. It was none of these things, however, that caught her eye. It was the plaque beneath it, stating its origin. Black family heirloom.

She lifted it from its cushion and approached the register.

"Who sold this to you?" Her voice was too loud, too harsh, to match the stealth with which she had entered the shop. It cracked through the air, startling the other browsers, and pounding on their eardrums.

"N-Narcissa Malfoy," stammered the boy at the register, after a moment of fumbling through the records. Her words had done their duty: intimidate those closest to her.

"Did she say whose it was?"

"I-I don't know, miss. I wasn't here when we b-bought it?" His voice rose at the end of the phrase; more of a question than an answer. "Mr. Borgin?" he called, turning to a door behind him. "Mr. Borgin?"

A moment later, the stooped old man stepped out of the back room, and came to the counter himself. The boy whispered fervently in his ear, and Borgin nodded. He turned back to Delphi.

"I was told it once belonged to Bellatrix Lestrange," he said smoothly, trying his best to convince her to buy it without saying so directly.

"Perfect," she whispered, in stark comparison to the only other phrases she had spoken within the shop. She drew a small pouch from somewhere near her waist, and extracted the two thousand gold coins it cost. She turned to leave, not waiting for the boy to count the coins, or for Borgin to wrap it in paper.

It really was perfect, she thought. For now, she only had one more thing to find, and she knew where it was. At Hogwarts, and the Forbidden Forest no less. It would be no more than a stick to the passerby, but it was so much more to her. Its phoenix feather core was the same as the one who defeated its wizard, but in that core, it was soon to hold its greatest secret of all.

* * *

 **This chapter is a bit of a teaser chapter, as I'm not sure how long it'll be until the next update. BUT I have everything pre-planned, which should help prevent writer's block (I hope so). I know this chapter is really short, but it felt fitting. The rest of the chapters should be longer (at least 1000 words).**

 **This is a re-write of my first story,** **Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy: The Wrong One to Blame** **, which will be temporarily taken down. The original four (pathetic) chapters will be posted as the last four chapters of this story, so you can see where it started.**

 **Thank you for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

Albus Potter was glad to say he was going into his sixth year. Despite his and Scorp's adventures with Delphi in their fourth year, both had managed to go into their fifth year, and had sustained a normal year. Albus had also greatly improved, not no so much with a wand as with a cauldron, though. And although nobody knew the exact story of what had happened, his and Scorpius' involvement in the arrest of Delphi Riddle wasn't uncommon knowledge, and because of it, they had endured less teasing. Albus was now looking forward to what he hoped would be a similar year.

Albus basked in these thoughts as he finished packing, stuffing the last of his textbooks into his already full trunk. His room, he thought, could hardly be considered messy, albeit not the cleanest it had ever been. How very wrong he was. Stray socks found their way into every nook and cranny, and his bookshelf housed about twenty books too many. It was hard to tell whether he had made his bed that morning, but Albus had indeed put some amount of effort into pulling up the blanket and straightening the pillow. His Slytherin scarf hung limply from the foot board, and he snatched it up to add to his luggage.

A gentle knocking on his door alerted him to his sister presence - she was the only who knocked that quietly - and he opened the door just enough for her to see his face, but not enough to see the rest of his room.

"Mum says we're leaving soon," she informed him. She stuck her head a little farther through the half-opened door. "Are you still packing? I mean, I know it's been a crazy summer, but…" She made a face and turned back across the hall to drag her own trunk down the stairs, long red braid swinging behind her.

Albus closed his door again and set to zipping the bulging case. He hadn't started packing until two days ago, something he was now beginning to regret. But who thinks about packing in July, anyway? He, Scorpius, and his dad, had gone camping the first week of August to the Forest of Dean, and the family trip to Diagon Alley (now one less; James had graduated last year) had taken place the week after.

With a final tug, he closed his trunk and heaved it upright. Wishing he was seventeen and could perform a Levitation Charm on the trunk, he started the slow process of guiding the heavy object out of his room and into the hallway.

"Want some help?" Harry asked, ascending the stairs as his son backed into the wall, trying to fully extract the trunk from his room.

"I'm fine," Albus grumbled.

"Well, come down soon, okay? Breakfast is ready."

* * *

"Scorpius!" Albus sighed with relief when he found the compartment his friend had taken. Scorpius was sitting in the seat closest to the window, staring out at the station wall beyond. Scorpius had grown recognizably taller over the summer, and his hair was even lighter than before from the sun.

"Hi, Albus," said Scorpius, turning to face Albus, and offering up a chocolate frog. Albus took it gladly and sat down in the seat across from him.

"Ready for Hogwarts?" Albus asked Scorpius.

"Yes!" Scorpius didn't bother hiding his enthusiasm, the smile on his face widening.

"It was a rhetorical question." Albus bit of the frog's leg, glancing at the card. Helga Hufflepuff again. He probably had over a hundred Hufflepuff cards.

"But we get to learn so many things! Potions this year is supposed to be especially good, you know. And think about all the charms! And Transfiguration! Professor McGonagall still hasn't given up teaching the N.E.W.T. classes. She really likes the advanced stuff. I don't have any idea what more they could teach us in Muggle Studies, though. And all the jinxes we get to learn in Defense! Some of them are really complicated. Those are the only classes you're taking, right?" Albus nodded. "Aw, I was hoping you would change your mind. What type of job are you going to get with that?"

"I've already told you, Scorp. I want a Muggle job. Less wizards staring at me all the time."

"I forgot. The infamous Potter Curse."

"It's very famous, actually. That's what makes it so deadly."

"Um, hello? Can I come in for bit?" Rose Granger-Weasley stood at the door of their compartment, knocking on the glass. She'd gotten a haircut since the last time Albus had seen her, and her red-brown hair just barely brushed shoulders. Albus leaned forward to let her in, and she sat down on the seat next to him. Scorpius held open a bag of candy for her, and she glared at him before taking a Cauldron Cake.

"What's this about?" Albus asked. Rose had been friendly enough during their last year, but that was just it- friendly enough. Although to be perfectly honest, Scorpius had also asked Rose out several times last year, which significantly complicated things.

"I'm sorry," she blurted out suddenly, her cheeks reddening. "I was scared you'd be mad at me last year, so I didn't apologize, and I thought I better…" She broke off, nibbling on the cake as a sort of excuse for her silence.

"What for?" asked Scorpius, looking genuinely confused. Scorpius, with his ever-present crush on Rose, could clearly see no reason for her to apologize. He admired her too much.

"I thought you were the son of Voldemort!"

"Well, yeah. But everyone did. It's not your fault, really."

"I chose to believe them." She paused, searching for what to say next. "Mum told me everything - she actually told me last year - and I just… Merlin, I hate Delphi." She gave a weak smile, and both boys faked a short laugh, even though her comment wasn't in jest.

"…she's so strange," Rose continued.

"That she is," agreed Scorpius.

"Anyway, what classes are you taking?" Rose asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Charms, Defense, Potions, Transfiguration, Muggle Studies, Divination, and Astrology," Scorpius recited, counting the seven classes on his fingers.

"What job?"

"Healer," Albus answered for him.

Scorpius nodded enthusiastically. "I don't really want to work for the Ministry, and healing is something that needs more jobs. I'm going to try to get into St. Mungo's program, and eventually get a job there. It'll take a while, but it'll be worth it. What about you?"

"Charms, Defense, Transfig, Potions, Astrology, Arithmancy, and Ancient Runes. So there's a bunch of Ministry jobs I could take, but I kind of want to teach at Hogwarts."

"Which class?" asked Scorpius, who had been hanging onto every word like he was about to fall down a cliff.

"It's not exactly a class yet, but… wandlore is really interesting. All the different woods that are used, not mention cores and lengths. What the different flexibilities mean, how to recognize a wand tree, what happens when a Muggle finds one, the different ways they're made in other countries.

"In China, phoenixes and unicorns are really rare, so they typically use goldfish scales or love chords instead."

"Love chords?"

"The Man in the Moon uses invisible love chords to connect lovers, and every ninety-nine years, a wand maker is allowed to climb a mountain to find him and bring back a bundle of love chords for wand use. And goldfish are symbols of luck. Some legends even say they have the ability to turn into dragons."

"That's amazing, Rose," said Albus, thoroughly impressed. How could someone store so much information inside their head, and still have room for homework?

"I have to go. Lily, Alice, and Gabby are waiting," said Rose, standing up. She opened the compartment door, and began to step over the threshold, then stopped. "Friends?" she asked, looking back and Albus and Scorpius.

"Friends," they agreed. She closed the door and walked down the corridor, hurrying off to find Lily and her other friends, Alice Longbottom and Gabby Jordan.

"That was odd," said Scorpius, taking a pepper imp from his sweet bag.

"It certainly was. But she was right."

"About what?"

"Delphi being strange."

"Of course Delphi's strange. Think Rose'll get mad if I ask her out again?" Scorpius put the candy in his mouth, and started to smoke.

"Yes."

* * *

 **I was able to get this chapter out sooner than I thought! I'll try to update every 7-10 days from now on, but go easy on me. I don't have much to say, so... Thanks for reading, and please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

Hermione sat at her desk, reading a report that detailed the circumstances of the Hogwarts thestrals. A few stray pieces of parchment, both blank and written on where on her desk, along with numerous quills and bottles of ink. A large bowl of golden toffees resided on the edge of her desk farthest from her, which she was known to offer to anyone who came with news. The wall behind her may not have been there at all, for the large bookcase that was stacked up against it.

"Minister!" A harassed ministry official burst into Hermione's office, tailed by a few others. Hermione hadn't even heard any footsteps in the hall, and started when he entered.

"Yes?" she asked, eyebrows raised. She settled the parchment she had been reading onto her desk, and looked up at him. "You can sit."

The man sat hastily, and barked orders at the others, who retreated into the brown-carpeted corridor, their footsteps muffled by the soft padding of the floor. The man shut the door, and sat in the wooden chair opposite Hermione's.

"In Azkaban!" he exclaimed. "Delphini Riddle-" Hermione felt her skin tingle at the name that has caused so much pain. Her fingers jumped to her wand; war instincts are hard to lose. She straightened in her chair, moving about her robes, and hoped he hadn't noticed the reaction. Still, she listened more intently than ever, like she had when Harry was telling her about his lessons with Dumbledore in their sixth year.

"The dementors don't affect her the same way as the others, Minister."

Hermione tried not to let her surprise show, and kept her eyes focused on his. The room around her swirled into colours and shapes, turning books to blobs and parchment to rough brown patches. His eyes alone remained still, green-gray and worried, not pulling away from her own for even a second. She gripped the arms of her chair, wondering if she had almost fainted. _Such a childish thing._ Nevertheless, she sipped her water to keep it from happening again.

And besides, it had happened before. Sirius had been able to something similar, but she highly doubted the circumstances were the same. Sirius had been an animagus, using his skills as a shield. Delphi may have been many things, but an animagus was not one of them. Above all, Hermione didn't want to consider that possibility, because that was what enabled Sirius' escape.

"And you did not bring this to the Head of Magical Law Enforcement?"

"I thought it an urgent matter, Minister."

"I have no immediate solution, not without an investigation, and Harry is just as capable as I am to start one."

"I'm sorry, ma'am. I'll go find him, and-"

"No. You've already told me. I can tell him. Is there anything else you know?"

"Something like this has never happened before, Minister."

"Is that all you have to say?"

"Yes, Minister."

"And you've only just now noticed this?" Delphi had been in Azkaban for a year already, surely this would have showed up sooner.

"She's only visited on the yearly inspections, Minister."

"Very well then, start an investigation. But be careful. I can only imagine the woman as dangerous when not at least partially impaired."

"Of course, Minister.

"Good day."

"Good day, Minister."

Hermione's mind was racing. Of course Delphi wasn't an animagus. She couldn't be. She wasn't registered, and when she'd admitted any illegal activity she had taken part of under Veritaserum, unregistered animagus was not one of them. She couldn't think of anything else that would cause that. She gave an annoyed huff, and ate a toffee. She would need to tell Professor McGonagall about this.

* * *

Breakfast at Hogwarts on September 2nd was always an interesting affair. Nearly every student got letters from home, and a story popular among the students told of a girl who was smothered by the multitude of feathers, claws, and beaks. All the professors insisted that this story was false, and rightly so, but that didn't stop the older children from telling it to the first years.

Scorpius and Albus received their owls accordingly, Albus having just enough time to rip the letter from the owl's feet before it flew away to find Lily. As the two sat eating their eggs and reading the letters, a shout came up from the Gryffindor table. Albus turned his head to see what it was. He didn't think it could be too important: the Gryffindors were always freaking out about the most useless things.

Rose and Hugo were both chasing after an extraordinarily small owl that was flying into walls and pitchers of pumpkin juice, and, in the case of an unfortunate Hufflepuff, people's faces.

"Should we go help them?" Scorpius asked Albus, turning his head to one side.

"No, they'll catch him eventually. And something's telling me that would embarrass Rose even more."

"True." Scorpius munched on a piece of toast, thinking.

OoOoO

"Scorpius! Albus!" Rose panted, running to catch up to the two. Her Ravenclaw friend, Gabby Jordan trailed behind her, dark brown curls bouncing in perfect spirals, round face smiling at being back at Hogwarts. Her deep brown eyes - the same colour as her hair - were framed by long lashes, and her olive skin looked alive with joy.

"What?" asked Albus, walking backward a few paces to find her face. Why was she catching up to them? She hadn't done that at all last year, but after the train ride yesterday, he supposed he should have expected it.

"We have Charms together!" she explained, pulling herself next to him in the crowd, and linking arms with Gabby to avoid separation. "But that's not why I came. Mum didn't just send Hugo and me a letter, there was one for McGonagall, too. I saw it when I was trying to my letter. I don't know anymore than that, but whatever information it was bringing, I don't think it's any good."

"Delphi?"

"I hope not."

"There's more to this Delphi story than the Ministry's released, isn't there?" Gabby guessed, her sweet voice drawing the attention of a few too many people.

"Oh, sure, I don't know everything, but Albus and Scorpius will tell," Rose said cheerily, craning her neck to look at Scorpius.

"I'm not so sure…" Scorpius said.

"Why not?"

"I just don't think we should go around shouting our adventures for the world to hear."

"Albus?" Rose asked hopefully, leaning onto him in support.

"I'm sorry, Rose, but I agree. Some pretty weird things happened, and they reveal too much about Voldemort - Dad doesn't really want people to know much. Heck, even I don't know half of what happened, and I'm his son!"

"Yes, but…"

"We just walked past the classroom," Scorpius interrupted, pointing out their foolishness. They circled back and took their place in line, Rose ominously quiet, and Gabby thoughtful.

Finally, Rose broke the silence that Albus had come to dread, and asked to see his wand.

"I haven't gotten a chance to look at it since you got the new one, and I need to get better at recognizing the different types."

"Oh, sure," said Albus, relieved by the change of subject. He put the stick into her outstretched hand, and she began to examine it, flipping it in her palms and through her nimble fingers.

"Same length as your last one, right?" Albus nodded, awed that she could remember such details. She must have been paying close attention to wands for years. "More flexible, though, so you're more open-minded. Odd combination with ash wood. It's a pretty stubborn wood. And the core…" She screwed up her face in concentration and tapped the wand against her palm. A small amount of orange sparks emitted from the end. "Phoenix feather, then. Your last one was too. Was that right?" Albus nodded, and Rose beamed. "Here's your wand back."

She handed him his wand, and he clutched it tight. It was almost as good as his old wand, and the years of magic it promised also came with improvement of how he could work with it. Professor Flitwick opened the classroom doors just then, and as the twenty or so sixth years filed in, Albus heard a whisper in his ear.

"Bloody brilliant, that girl!" Albus smiled and rolled his eyes, even though the taller blonde leaning over his shoulder couldn't see it.


	4. Chapter 4

"There's something wrong with Delphi, and I know it!" Rose insisted, leaning over her cauldron and sticking her head through the blue smoke emanating from Albus'. Over the past week, she had become convinced that her mum's letter to Professor McGonagall had been about Delphi. Albus didn't think it had anything to do with Delphi at all. He thought it was about Hogwarts. Scorpius didn't know what to think.

"I already told you I don't think so!" Albus hissed, and went back to chopping beetles for his potion. He'd gotten much better at magic during his fifth year, throwing himself entirely into his schoolwork to block out the memories with Delphi.

"I'm still going to find out as much about Voldemort as I can," she declared.

"Rose. There's hardly anything out there. And we're just kids. Do you really think our parents are going to tell us anything?" he asked, his voice an odd combination of angry and pleading. He could see his words had stung her, but he couldn't be bothered to feel regret. He'd told her the truth, and he shouldn't feel bad about that.

"We're not just kids," she muttered under her breath. "Dad said they learned everything when they were in their sixth year, so why shouldn't we?"

"You really want to have Delphi hunting you down?"

"No, but… I wish we could do something."

"The adults will figure it out. They always do. It's their job."

"I don't care. I still want to help."

"I have a feeling that would mean staying out of their way."

"Yeah, whatever."

Albus scooped the bits of beetles into his cauldron, and looked up to find Scorpius staring at him. "What?" he asked, annoyed.

"Will you two stop fighting?"

"It's not my fault she won't shut up."

"Of course not," said Scorpius, disbelieving.

"I mean, I could _Silencio_ her, but that spell's not always worked so well in the past, and I'd hate to send her to the hospital wing."

"You've managed that spell plenty of times." Scorpius paused and stirred his own cauldron, squinting at the ingredients. "And don't you think she's a tiny bit right?"

"You're on her side?"

"Not exactly. I think it might have something to do with Delphi, too, but I don't want to stick my head in."

"Good." At least he could count on Scorpius for one thing. Oh, he was undoubtedly curious about the whole ordeal, but so was Albus. It was hard not to be. But Albus had little desire to get himself roped into another adventure, and that was just what Rose wanted.

"Promise you won't try to annoy Rose?" Scorpius asked hopefully, and Albus couldn't blame him. They'd only just become friends, and to go and ruin it right away?

"I promise."

OoOoO

The rest of the week passed almost peacefully between Albus and Rose. Scorpius acted as a tour guide, swerving around the topic of Delphi as much as he could, and Albus went strangely silent anytime Scorpius' efforts proved fruitless.

"Alright, study time!" Scorpius announced, jumping out of a green armchair in the Slytherin common room. He grabbed his book bag from beside him, quickly counting that it had enough quills and ink.

"Really?" groaned Albus. "First you drag me around the entire bloody school, and now this? I've hardly got five minutes of rest!"

"We needed the exercise." Exercise or not, Albus was had not been happy with their wanderings. It was Saturday, and that meant he was supposed to sleep in, not be woken up at six to take a tour of the campus. And now Scorpius wanted to go study in the library, when Albus had already spent all his capacity for human interaction that day.

"We could've studied earlier today, you know."

"It was one of the last warm days this year. And I wanted to go to the library now, anyway."

"Why now?" asked Albus, though he knew the answer.

"Rose is there." Rose was always in the library at this time, after dinner as the sun started to fall from the sky.

"I thought you weren't going to ask her out this year."

"Yes, but we're friends. C'mon, it'll be fun."

"Nerd," Albus retorted, but he too stood and walked toward the stonewall exit.

"Like you've never read a book."

"Only when I have to," said Albus as they stepped out into the dimly lit corridor outside the common room. Torches along the walls were the only reason the hall was not in total darkness. The torches threw their flickering light onto the stones, where it danced and played with the shadows. Albus blinked, his eyes adjusting quickly from years of practise. He would still always prefer the green light of the common room, but there was still something special about the magically enhanced flames. The torches continued up the narrow stairs, only ending when they reached ground level and were exposed to the sunlight that pierced through the windows in the coming dusk.

The library itself was cheerily lit, and students sat at each table, rustling parchment and sending up clouds of dust from old books. Albus and Scorpius sat down at the table they had long claimed as their own, and unloaded their books onto it.

"Where's Rose?" Scorpius asked suddenly, looking around.

"I don't know, probably with Lily," Albus said, flipping through his Muggle Studies textbook.

"No, she's not. See? There's Lily, and Jordan, and Longbottom."

"Rose isn't over there?" Albus stopped flipping to peer around the bookshelf. Sure enough, his sister, Gabby Jordan, and Alice Longbottom were all at the table without Rose.

"Where do you think she is?"

"Talking to a teacher. Toilets. Common room. I don't know."

"I'm going to go ask."

"Scorpius, that's a really-" Albus started, but Scorpius was gone. Albus stood and followed Scorpius to where the girls were. Perhaps he could save Scorpius' dignity yet.

"-Rose is?" Scorpius was asking.

"Gryffindor common room," said Lily. She shared a glance with her friends, who all nodded approvingly.

"Why?" asked Albus, unable to contain himself. It certainly wasn't like Rose to skip a study session.

"Promise not to tell?" Alice whispered. Strands of blonde hair had escaped from her ponytail to frame her face, and the mischievous grin she was now wearing.

Scorpius and Albus exchanged a look. Something was definitely afoot. "Yes."

"She's going to sneak into the restricted section," Gabby said, so quietly she may as well have been mouthing.

"Oh," said Albus. He found it hard to believe that Rose of all people would be breaking such an important rule.

"Something about Voldemort, she said," Lily informed them.

"Oh," said Albus again. He had a feeling he now looked like a close relative of the common goldfish. "Well, tell her good luck from me, I guess." He grabbed Scorpius' shoulder before he could protest and led him away.

"We have to do something," and Scorpius.

"We're not helping her."

"You're curious too, and you know it. And Rose doesn't have much experience with sneaking around. She's going to get herself caught, get her prefect's badge taken. We're going to help her."

"As much as I'm enjoying watching you try - and fail - to smother your feelings for her, there is no way I'm coming."

"Really? Don't you want to know more about Voldemort? You said it yourself: you don't know even half of what happened. Wouldn't it be exciting to find out more? And what about Delphi? We won't ever know more than half of her if we never find out all of Voldemort."

Albus sighed. He had a point. Albus was quite curious about the whole thing, but was it worth getting caught? He'd be able to cover for them a lot quicker than Rose would, and his planning-prone mind was already devising a route to the library. "Alright, but only because I don't want Rose getting caught. I don't want anymore to do with Delphi after this. Understood?"

"Yes. Now, let's get planning." Scorpius pulled a blank parchment from his bag and drew a rough outline of the Hogwarts corridors.

OoOoO

Albus and Scorpius stayed at the library as late as they could. It'd only taken them an hour to develop the plan, but now that it was so close to execution, Albus was starting to doubt their strategy. Soon, they were the only ones left, pretending to write essays long finished, and growing more fidgety by the second. Madam Pince began to shelve books, and Albus wondered whether she had noticed them yet. She noticed them soon enough, though.

"Out, out, out!" Madam Pince said, chiding them to the door. Albus and Scorpius scurried to the exit, trying their best to look scared. But a happy, elated feeling had taken hold of Albus' stomach; perhaps they could do this.

Hiding in a broom cupboard for over an hour was definitely on the list of things Albus would never do again. Being in said broom cupboard squashed between the wall and Scorpius Malfoy had not made the situation any better. The dank smell of old, damp stone mingled with that of a smelly cleaning potion in an unpleasant brew. Albus thought there might be some lingering Mrs. Norris scent, too, which only caused his nervousness to return.

"Do you think she's almost here yet?" Albus whispered, trying to stuff a yawn back down his throat. They'd debated going back to the common room to find some waking potion, and the decision against it wasn't helping Albus.

"Soon."

Soon, it turned out, was about five seconds later, when a small, hunched-over figure snuck down the middle of the hallway. Scorpius cracked open the door.

"Rose!" Scorpius called."Psst, Rose!" She looked around, frightened. "Over here!" She finally spotted them, and came over.

"Why are you here?"

"To help you. Let's go." Scorpius had now opened the door all the way, and Albus savoured the fresh air, and absence of the stink from the cupboard.

"Alice told you, did she?"

"Yes. Now follow us. We've got a plan."

"A plan?" Scorpius offered up their map, which was missing details, but useful all the same.

"See? We go along this corridor and turn right, up those stairs and turn left. Then-"

"Are you sure this will work?"

"It's bound to throw off Filch. And with you the middle of the hallway… anything's better than that, really."

Rose wrinkled her nose at the criticism, but changed the subject quickly. "Why are you here, Albus?"

"Because you're my cousin, and you're going to get yourself dead into trouble."

"Thank you," she said sarcastically, not missing the jab at her sneaking skills.

"Let's go," Scorpius said again, and this time he grabbed both their sleeves and tugged, forcing them along the wall to the next turn.

As silently as they could, disguising themselves as shadows, they crept forward. They took turns that led them away from the library, only to circle back with the next. It took over an hour to get there, and the one clock they saw, hanging in an empty classroom, read just past two. Albus didn't quite hate the sneaking part of this, after all. It was fun, to plan something, down to the last footstep, and then take each footstep, landing on the stones and rugs with light feet, and tiptoeing past the disappearing stairs.

When they arrived at the library, Albus guessed it was nearly three in the morning. Scorpius guided Rose into the Restricted Section with ease, and she got to work straightaway.

"What are we looking for?" Albus asked, fingering the spine of a dusty book.

"Voldemort."

"I know, but specifically about him? First war? Second war? In between?"

"No, just his whole life," she said distractedly. Funny, Albus thought. That was one of the tactics he used when lying. Pretend you don't care.

"You're an awful liar."

"Safe-Objects, Albus," she relented. "I'm looking for Safe-Objects."

"But you can't," said Scorpius. "There's no way you'll find anything about them at Hogwarts."

Safe-Objects were a banned subject, everyone knew that. Voldemort had enchanted a certain number of objects that had to be destroyed before he could die. That was the story the Golden Trio had told the world, and while journalists back then weren't pleased with the answer, Albus certainly was. Nothing about Voldemort pertained to him, so why should he care? He knew it was probably a little heartless, but he was more concerned with the Death Eaters. They were the ones who had gone out and killed, done Voldemort's dirty work. They were the ones who had chosen to do so. The ones who were still human enough to change.

"Let's just look," Rose said. "Please?"

"Alright," Scorpius sighed. He knelt down next to her and heaved a large book from the bottom shelf. A cloud of dust erupted from it, drifting over to Albus and making him cough.

"Shh!" Rose warned. A retort bit at the tip of Albus' tongue, but a knowing look from Scorpius cut him off. Instead, he picked up his own book and scanned the table of contents.

They flipped through book after book, never finding the answer they were looking for, finding ideas that led in the right direction, but were cut off abruptly. Even Rose grew discouraged, and agreed to go back after only an hour. They re-shelved the books, and quietly left the library.

"You manage from here?" whispered Scorpius.

"What?" said Rose.

"Get back to Gryffindor yourself from here?"

"Yes." They crept off in different direction after that; Rose up, Scorpius and Albus down. Albus' and Scorpius' plan proved a success, and they were back in their dorm by five a.m. Happy with their victory, Albus decided that maybe it hadn't been as bad of an idea as he had thought.

* * *

 ***Finally catches up to the chapter I was supposed to have finished 3 days ago* But hey, I got this one out! Thanks for reading, and please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

Rose was not nearly as satisfied with their adventure as Albus and Scorpius were. She was determined to find these Safe-Objects, and would stop at nothing. For Albus, this meant at least two late-night trips to the library each week, each one as fruitless as the last. As Halloween approached, and the cold weather with it, their hope dwindled. How in the world were they supposed to learn about something that wasn't even in the restricted section? Soon, they gave up searching. Rose's natural cheer had diminished, and Scorpius and Albus were desperate to forget the nighttime wanderings.

On the morning of All Hallow's Eve, Albus woke to find himself escaping a nightmare, like he had often found since the beginning of October. He'd had many nightmares of Delphi after his adventures with her, but those had worn off quickly. No, this past month has gone beyond any nightmare he'd ever known. They were twisting, morphing things, sometimes showing him faces, sometimes cold, hard, earth. All noise was muted in these dreams, the far-off crash of water on rocks, a distant screaming that echoed in his mind after waking. The dreams were terrifying and saddening, and he always woke from them with a headache and sore muscles. He'd told Scorpius it was just his "normal" Delphi dreams, the ones that made him relive the events of their fourth year so that he wouldn't worry.

Scorpius was gone when Albus woke up, and had left a note at the end of his bed that Albus quickly found.

 _Albus,_

 _Woke up early. Went for walk. Meet you in Great Hall for breakfast._

 _-Scorpius._

Indeed, when Albus walked into the Great Hall a half an hour later, Scorpius was already eating.

"Since when do you go on early morning walks?" Albus asked him as he sat down.

"Since I wanted to," Scorpius said, stuffing a spoonful of porridge into his mouth. Albus shrugged and spread a copious amount of marmalade on his toast. Just then, the morning's owls swooped in, dropping letters to their recipients. A small-ish brown owl Albus recognised as Draco's landed next to Scorpius' plate.

"What is it, Twig?" Scorpius asked, taking a small roll of parchment from the owl's ankle. Twig hooted once, and then flew away. Scorpius read the short letter quickly, his expression changing so fast Albus couldn't identify any one emotion.

"Grandmum's in St. Mungo's," Scorpius said, so quietly he may as well have exhaled.

"She is?"

"Dad took her in last night. She's had a bit of a cold, but then she started coughing really bad, and Dad didn't know what to do, so he took her there. And now they don't want to let her out."

"She'll just stay until she gets better, then? I mean, that makes sense. It'd be really hard for your dad, he's got to work and all. It's better to have a healer that's able to take care of her all the time."

"It's more than that. It wasn't just a bad cold, or a cough. She's got Fire Cough."

"Fire Cough? But that's really common. My mum even keeps a potion for it in the cupboard." Fire Cough was caused when someone inhaled too much Floo powder, and was extremely treatable. There were varying extremities of it, of course, but even the worst could be nursed back to health.

"It may be common, but when you're older… and with such an extreme case… well, I sure hope those healers know what they're doing."

Scorpius went quiet for the rest of the meal, and Albus couldn't blame him. Albus had only met Narcissa once, over the Christmas hols during fifth year. She'd started living with them the summer before, and had adjusted well to the different lifestyle. She was a nice woman, but wore the unmistakable traces of a once-stern life. Albus respected her, and from what he had heard, so did Harry. But now she was in St. Mungo's with what could for her be a life-threatening condition.

Scorpius said little during their classes that day; Albus didn't see him raise his hand in class even once. He assumed the teachers had been informed of this, because none of them seemed the least bit concerned that Scorpius was acting oddly, and none of them pressured their questions on him. Albus told Rose what had happened after Scorpius gave a little nod of assent.

It wasn't until after their last class of the day that Scorpius really started talking again, and only minimally at that.

"Ready for the feast?" he asked.

"Sure," said Albus, although he didn't know what there was to be ready for.

"Let's get there early."

"Okay."

And so they were one of the first in the Great Hall that night. It was lit up spectacularly, with pumpkin lanterns grinning at them from their places midair, their glowing faces casting distorted shadows. Live bats fluttered against the magical ceiling, sometimes swooping low over the tables. Magic buzzed through the air, radiating from enchanted decorations, The sweet smell of cinnamon flooded the air, mingling with pumpkin and apple.

"It's gorgeous," Scorpius said, never failing to be amazed by Hogwarts.

"It is," agreed Albus. Though the decor was nearly the same every year, today felt different somehow. As if the bats themselves were whispering hints of what was to come later in the night. It was almost foreboding, but the calm, quiet type that was easy to overlook.

Albus soon forgot the weight of air heavy with fortune. The food was delicious, stew that warmed him from the inside out, apple cider thick with spices, pie filled with a creamy pumpkin layer, and careful slices of apple laid in sugared pastries. Scorpius was talking now, the way he normally did.

"You're probably right, anyway, Albus. Those healers have plenty of experience. She'll be out in less than a month."

Albus nodded enthusiastically as he swallowed a bite of mashed potatoes. After that, Albus and Scorpius picked up conversation, only pausing to eat more. The ceiling was the deep near-black of midnight, and stars twinkled against a new-moon sky when Professor McGonagall finally stepped up to the front to dismiss the students.

Pushed out of the Great Hall with the crowd, Albus found himself shuffling alongside Scorpius and Rose, who looked annoyed at the lack of manners from the other students. She was shouting out at students along with other prefects, taking away house pointsanytime she saw someone pushing anyone else. Albus watched the scene through food-laden and sleep-heavy eyes, thinking how very much he'd like to be in bed.

That's when he felt it, waking him at once, pulling him out of whatever state he had been in before. It was a well-recognised feeling for him, the one he felt when he woke from his strange nightmares. His stomach twisted and coiled, his head began to ache, and his muscles grew sore. His mind pulled him under a wave of terror, and the hopelessness from the dreams returned. But the sadness and despair were not his own, nor was the happiness being sucked from him. The faces that flashed into his memory were ones he had never seen, but they were awful all the same, with twisted mouths and narrow eyes that sent chills up his spine. The screaming from the dreams became more clear than ever, and though muted, it blocked out all other sound, and the waves pounded against his eardrums, and-

"Albus, are you okay?" It was Rose's voice that brought him back into the entrance hall, taking him from the horrid memories.

"I - I'm fine. What happened?" Albus rubbed his arms; it felt as though someone had delivered a heavy blow to his arms and legs, making the muscles ache something awful.

"You stopped walking. Your eyes went all weird and then closed. You looked really scary," Scorpius informed him, worry creasing between his brows.

"I did?"

"Yeah. Why, what happened to you?"

"I don't really know… I sort of… felt sad all the sudden, I didn't think happiness was even a thing."

"I can't think what… oh, dementors!"

"No, not dementors, I wasn't reliving my worst memory," Albus said, remembering how detached he felt from the nightmares. The pain was becoming worse, stretching on endlessly, carrying a headache with it. "I was… I think I was reliving someone else's worst memory."

"But that's not possible," said Rose. "I mean, there's not even dementors around."

"We're probably all dreaming and should get back in bed so we can wake up in five minutes," Scorpius declared. "Besides, everyone's already left the entrance hall, and I don't want any professors to find us."

And sure enough, when they woke the next morning, it truly did seem like a dream. Albus thought that maybe it was just another nightmare, another terror to awake him with a longing pull in his chest. And it very well could have been a dream, except that they all knew it was real.

* * *

 **Thank you Guest for your review! I've been trying really hard to keep in Albus in character. Thank you for reading, and please review.**


	6. Chapter 6

Rose's eyes betrayed her before anything else. She'd regained the look of resolve she often got, like before a Quidditch match, or before breaking into the library. Albus knew immediately that breaking into the library was exactly the sort of thing she was thinking. He knew why, too. It was because of last night. She was scared, and the fear had only made her more determined to solve Delphi's riddle.

She first approached Albus and Scorpius during breakfast, marching over to the Slytherin table defiantly, ignoring the looks of distaste from other students.

"Go back to your table," Scorpius told her.

"We need to talk."

"And you do what, tell everyone that poor little Slytherin Potter has gone mad?" asked Albus, with such loathing in his voice for the nickname that Rose backed away.

"Fine," she said. "I suppose we'll have to find a time to talk in the library." To anyone else, this would be a casual reference to the increasing amount of time the three spent studying together, but Albus and Scorpius knew what she was implying. They were going back to the library tonight, whether they liked it or not.

Truthfully, Albus wasn't mad about going to the library at all. And though he hated to admit it, he wanted to go. Because suddenly, this was about him. It wasn't just Rose and her obsession with Delphi anymore, it was Rose and Albus and Scorpius wanting to know what happened to Albus. Was it selfish of him? Probably. And he didn't care about Delphi or Voldemort at all anymore, though he didn't think Rose did either. He wanted to know why he had had a nightmare when he was awake.

Ever since the first night they'd snuck into the restricted section, they'd followed a similar plan. They changed routes a few times, to make themselves less traceable, but the plan always started the same: stay in the library studying as late as they could. Albus thought their alibis were perfect. They were the easiest to come up with and the most were believable. Sometimes they even got away with telling the truth. Why were they staying late in the library? They had a super-long essay to finish. There was a test tomorrow. They'd procrastinated on the homework. Endless possibilities.

Because they actually did have a test the next day, they didn't bother fake studying. Instead, they quizzed each other on the Five Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration until well after nine o'clock. They were getting better, too, and Albus thought he'd get at least an E on the test.

"What are you doing?" Madam Pince demanded as she rounded a corner. "It's almost curfew! Get out, and hope you're not caught!"

"Yes, Ma'am," Rose responded brightly, and started packing her books away. Scorpius mumbled something indistinct, and Albus yawned.

"Let's go," Rose chirped. "Part of preparing for a test is sleeping."

"Funny, we're not doing much of that tonight," Albus whispered in her ear. She gave him a look that said shut up.

"Ravenclaw prefect should be coming down this hall in five minutes," Rose informed them as soon as the three were out of the library. Deciding to be helpful, Rose had stolen a prefect's calendar, and knew exactly who would be where at what time, and how forgiving they would be.

Tonight's hiding place was behind a large statue at the end of the hallway, where the three had to crouch down for the next hour. The stone floor was hard beneath them, and the wall was cold. It was uncomfortable, but they had become used to it from when they snuck out multiple times a week. When the time was up, they went back to the library to search.

"Haven't we been through all the shelves?" Scorpius asked.

"No, not these," Rose said, gesturing to a section at the far end of the shelves.

"Potions books?" asked Albus. "You really think potions have anything to do with Voldemort?"

"Who's to say they don't?" Rose countered, reaching down for the first book. Albus shrugged and bent down, also pulling out a book. Its soft spine was time-worn and weary, its once-bright colours now gray and cloudy. Albus opened it carefully, fingering the fragile pages. Scribbles from Hogwarts students of the past littered the pages, adding notations to the recipes and words of warning.

"What do you think happened to me last night?" Albus asked.

"I don't know," said Rose. "And I even did some reading."

"You could have been using Legilimency without knowing it," Scorpius offered.

"That's impossible, Scorpius," Rose reminded him. "It would make sense, but then he'd have known whose mind it was, and they would have been in close proximity."

"I think I fell asleep," Albus stated. It was true, he did think he fell asleep. It'd been exactly like one of his nightmares.

"You think what?" Scorpius asked in disbelief.

"What happened was just like my nightmares, so I that's what I think."

"Your nightmares?" Rose said.

"They started at the beginning of October."

"I thought those were just from fourth year," Scorpius said.

"I know," said Albus, looking down. He hadn't liked lying to Scorpius, but he hadn't wanted Scorpius to worry. The nightmares hadn't been that big of a problem; he'd done his school work just fine and felt normal. The worst thing was the way he felt after them, the way his muscles ached for an hour after he woke. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay. I can't imagine how scared you must have been," said Scorpius. They all went back to searching, moving slowly along the shelf. Albus couldn't how much time had passed, but he didn't care. He just kept flipping through book after book after book. It was exhausting, and just as futile as ever, yet Albus couldn't stop. After his third time about to give up, Rose started talking again.

"This potion is in our textbooks," Rose said, pointing to a book called Potions of the Dark.

"Which potion?" Albus asked.

"Amortentia. But we don't have the recipe for it, just a page about the effects. This… this has the recipe."

"Weird. That book must be old. There's plenty of potions worse than Amortentia," Scorpius said, flipping through a thick copy of Moste Potente Potions.

"We should leave now," Rose said, glancing at an ornate object that Albus had always assumed was a clock. It had more than enough hands, each tiny stick ending in a splay of fingers so that you could never tell where the hand was pointing. The numbers looked like Ancient Runes, and a smaller circle near the bottom of the clock seemed to be a representation of the solar system.

Silently, the three crept out of the library and back into the stone corridor. It was cold, and the stones themselves seemed to be sucking heat from the air. They stopped at the same staircase they always stopped at, and watched Rose begin her ascent. Scorpius and Albus traveled onward by themselves, the air getting colder with each floor they passed. The stairs back down to Slytherin were the worst; the torches had been magicked out, and they had to crawl down backwards to avoid falling.

" 'Night, Albus," Scorpius whispered from his bed as Albus pulled his sheets up to his chin.

" 'Night," he whispered back.

* * *

 **Hi everyone! *Meant to update a few hours ago.* Silverlight, interesting theory about Al being seer. You'll have to wait to see if you're right. Thank you all for following, and please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Sorry for the late update! I've been busy, but I should have a lot of time to write this week. Enjoy!**

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Albus and Scorpius sat at the Slytherin table, eating their breakfast. Scorpius was reading the book Albus had given him as a birthday present that morning, and Albus was picking at a muffin. When the owls arrived, flocking the students, neither paid attention. Scorpius because he was too absorbed in the book, Albus because he didn't care. A barn owl landed near Scorpius, it's heart face pointed at him.

"Er, Scorp," said Albus, waving a hand at the owl. A ray of white feathers fanned in a heart around its eyes and beak, rimmed with brown. It had a white chest, speckled with dark grey, and tan crept around its head and over its shoulders. Its back and wings were a darker shade of tan, with splotches of grey-black that reminded Albus of a calico cat.

"What?" asked Scorpius, looking up. "This book is good. Thanks."

"I think this owl is waiting for you." Scorpius turned to look at the strange creature.

"That's weird," he said. "I've never seen that owl before."

"Look, there's a letter," Albus said, pointing to the curled talons. Scorpius approached the owl slowly, and when it didn't shy away - or worse, attack, he took the brown paper envelope. It was a bulky sort of thing, and Albus was surprised it hadn't burst open during flight.

Scorpius opened it hesitantly, and looked greatly relieved when he pulled out the parchment.

"It's from Dad," he said, scanning the writing. "And he's got me an owl! This owl!"

"Cool," said Albus, reaching out to touch the owl. Her feathers were soft and silky, and she didn't so much as flinch from his fingers.

"She's a barn owl, and Dad hasn't named her yet. Says he wants me to."

"We'll have to think of something. What's in the envelope?" Albus asked, eyeing the bulky object.

Scorpius reached in again, and pulled out a watch. The face of the clock was midnight blue, and instead of numbers, planets danced across the edge. Stars and constellations decorated the face, blinking in and out of view. A full moon rested in the center, from which projected seven hands, made of silver and gold. The base of the hands wasintricate lace, thin metal that twisted and turned around itself. The face was wrapped in a silver case with little adornment, save a tiny snake emblem. All of this rested on a gold and silver strap, the metals weaving together in something that resembled a braid.

"Woah," Scorpius breathed, laying the cool metal over his fingers. Albus nodded, not knowing the proper reaction to give. Scorpius clasped it over his wrist, and watched as the length was magically adjusted.

"Any name ideas for the owl?" he asked Albus. They spent the rest of breakfast trying different, but each one felt odd on their tongues. It was too long, too short, too weird, too common, too human. Nothing worked.

"Marvling?" Scorpius suggested.

Albus shook his head. "Julie?" he asked.

Scorpius groaned. "How can we not name a bird?"

Neither of them had a class that morning, and as they made their way to the library, talking and laughing about their failure to name the owl, they ran into Rose.

"Hi!" she said cheerily. She was holding a book in her arms, and had her bag with her.

"Hi, Rose," Albus said. "Did you know it's Scorpius' birthday?"

"Really? Happy birthday, then."

"Seventeen, too," Albus continued, knowing it would annoy her. Rose narrowed her eyes at him slightly, but kept her mouth shut.

"The Trace is gone," Scorpius said, and pulled his from his pocket. "Wingardium Leviosa!" He lifted Rose's book from her arms, and levitated it right in front of her. She grabbed it easily, a satisfied smirk emerging on her face.

"Forgetting something, Mr. Malfoy?" she asked.

"What?"

Rose adjusted her robes so that a prefect badge gleamed in their faces. "No magic in the corridors. Five points from Slytherin."

"Hey!" said Albus. "That's not fair!"

"Think before you tease someone with an August birthday, Albus," Rose reminded him, and strode into the library before he could stop her.

Albus and Scorpius followed her, and arrived at their table to find she was sitting at it, and her spread all her things over it.

"I have a theory about Safe-Objects," Rose informed them as they sat down in chairs and moved her books aside.

"You do?" Scorpius asked. "What?"

"They're not real."

'They're not- what are you saying, Rose?" Albus said, shocked.

"Our parents made up Safe-Objects to cover up something even worse. More dangerous. So dangerous that they couldn't risk someone hearing about them, trying to make one. And so you tell everyone about something fake, so that no one can find instructions for how to create it. That's why not a single book we found even came close to using the term 'Safe-Object'"

"Worse than a Safe-Object? Anchoring your life to an object… that's pretty bad. Not the worst thing I've ever heard of, but…"

"Would you really expect Voldemort to have done anything less than the worst bit of magic in existence?"

"No," Albus said. "He was a mass murderer."

"Exactly."

"What do we do, then?" asked Scorpius. "How many people know what they really were?"

"Less than ten, no doubt," Rose said. "And I don't think any of them are at Hogwarts. But I know someone who might help."

"Really? Who?" Scorpius asked excitedly.

"Hagrid."

"Hagrid?"

"Our parents learned about whatever it is in their sixth year," Rose explained. "They were obviously friends with Hagrid. Of course, they wouldn't have told him about it, but he could have clues."

"He could at least confirm your theory."

"I'm going over to Hagrid's for tea next Saturday," Rose told them. "I'll take you with me and we can ask."

"Okay," said Albus. He was glad to find more about Safe-Objects. He'd grown more and more interested in them since Halloween, because maybe Rose was right. Learning about Voldemort would teach them about Delphi, and Albus hated Delphi. The more he could dig under her secrets and discover more hateable qualities of hers, the better.

Rose, Albus, and Scorpius started their homework, quills scratching on parchment, writing out essays and notes, and studying for whatever tests were taking place soon.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hello, there. Thank you for reading my story thus far. I am glad to have gained your interest. Enjoy the chapter!**

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Scorpius and Albus stood in the entry hall, waiting for Rose. It was eerily quiet, silence echoing off the polished tile floor. Both boys were wearing thick traveling cloaks and Slytherin scarves; the weather was colder every day. They'd been waiting for Rose for five minutes now, and were getting restless (not to mention how hot it was to wear a scarf inside). Most of the Hogwarts students were in the library, keeping warm and doing homework. Scorpius and Albus had been, too, but the visit with Hagrid had overridden their need to study.

Scorpius leaned his side against the wall, squinting out the frost-covered window. "Oh, look! There's Rose!" he said. Albus followed his gaze, and sure enough, Rose was walking over the frozen ground toward the door.

Rose heaved open the great oak doors, basking in the heat radiating from the castle. Her nose and cheeks were pink with cold, and her hair was tangled and frizzy. Rain earlier that day had left her damp, but for her cloaks.

"Quidditch practise," she said, noticing the boys' confused looks. "It'll be worse in the snow."

"Let's go," Scorpius said, stepping out into the cold.

"What are we asking Hagrid about?" Albus asked Rose through chattering teeth.

"Our parents' sixth year."

"Oh. And why exactly?"

"Mum let it slip that's when they learned Safe-Objects."

"I thought we didn't believe in Safe-Objects," Scorpius interjected.

"We don't. We're trying to figure out what they actually were."

Even the short walk to Hagrid's cabin had Albus thoroughly frozen, it was that cold outside. It seemed like it would start snowing soon, but the only thing that happened was a light mist of rain blowing over their heads. Albus was glad to see the smoke drifting from the cabin's chimney; it meant there would be a fire to warm himself by.

Albus and Scorpius lingered behind Rose as she approached the large, wooden door. She gave the door a few pounding knocks, then stepped to the side of the entryway, pulling the boys with her.

"Who's there?" said a deep voice, as a great hand swung open the door. Warm air seeped onto Albus, dissolving in the cold.

"Oh, it's just yeh," said Hagrid, his eyes landing on Rose. His large beard and thick, tangled hair made so that all Albus could see of his face was his eyes and nose.

"Yeh tryin' ter scare me?"

"No, not today," said Rose brightly, stepping back in front of the door. Albus and Scorpius followed her.

"Well, come on in, can't have the cold air chillin' up the place." Rose gestured for Albus and Scorpius to follow her inside, and they both reveled in the warmth of it all. The cabin looked both large and small at the same time, Hagrid-sized furniture dominating the room. A large fire blazed against the wall, casting shadows over old wood chairs, tables, and shelves. Hagrid sat down on an oversized sofa, ignoring the creak it made,

"Who've yeh brought, Rosie?" Hagrid asked, leaning back. "Sit down, all of yeh."

Rose, Albus, and Scorpius sat down in chairs much too large for them, swallowed up by the cushions.

"Oh, wait, I know yeh! Hello, Albus. Haven't seen yeh fer a mighty while."

"Sorry," Albus said. He'd stopped visiting Hagrid in his first year, but he couldn't quite remember why. It was probably to make himself seem less like Harry, now that he thought about it. He felt guilty about it; all the man wanted was some company every now and then, and Albus had ignored him.

"It's alright," Hagrid said. "Nice to see yeh again, that's all. And yeh must be the Malfoy kid," he added, nodding to Scorpius.

Scorpius nodded silently, his eyes wide, waiting for the anti-Malfoy speech.

"Oh, I'm not about ter go on about that, I'm not. A name ain't nothin' ter be ashamed of."

"Yes… sir," Scorpius ventured, starting to smile. Hagrid laughed, a booming laugh that woke even the old, large dog that lay in a bed by the fire. He lifted his head, jowls sagging, and looked around the room wearily. Deciding that there was nothing amiss, he placed his head back onto his paws, and fell back asleep.

"Aw, Fang," Rose cooed, moving to stroke the dog's head.

"Fang?" Scorpius mouthed at Albus, scared by the name. Albus nodded. He remembered the dog, whose generally calm nature was contrary to the name Hagrid had given him.

"I think I mighta found a wand tree, Rosie," Hagrid said.

Rose looked up at him. "Really? How?"

"I was out mindin' the thestrals, an' there was a spot all of 'em was avoidin'. When I was lookin' around, I found a tree filled with pixies. An oak, I think. Once I get those pixies gone, do yeh wanna take a look?"

"Ooh, yes," Rose said, delighted. "If it is, we can owl Mr. Ollivander. I'm sure he'd love it."

"Very good. Now, why are yeh all here? It mus' be somethin' important yeh want ter know from me."

"Er, there is something, actually," Albus said. "We were wondering… in Dad's sixth year… did he say anything about Voldemort?"

"What?" asked Hagrid, what little of his brow that could be seen furrowed. "Name's not so taboo anymore, is it? Well, 'bout his sixth year…" He paused in thought, and the three children all had their eyes trained on him. "Not much I can tell yeh. Prob'ly one o' the years he visited the least, not countin' his seventh. Nah, must've been too busy. Had lessons with Dumbledore or somethin'."

Albus, Scorpius, and Rose's reaction must have given away the fact that this was new knowledge, because Hagrid frowned. "Did yeh not know that? Well, if anyone asks, it wasn' me.

"Now, what's happened to yeh since we last talked?"

"A lot," said Albus, again regretting his younger self's ignorance Hagrid.

OoOoO

"Yeh still haven't named yer owl?" Hagrid asked Scorpius. The last hour had seen Scorpius beginning to feel more comfortable around the half-giant, and when the topic turned to his recent coming of age, Scorpius didn't seem to mind the attention one bit.

"No," he said.

"What about Lilac?" Rose offered. Scorpius blanched at the flowery name.

"Really, Rose?" Albus asked her.

She shrugged. "It was just an idea."

"Barn owl, do yeh say?" Hagrid asked. Scorpius nodded. "Pretty owl, that is. Needs a pretty name, too. A tree o' some sort, I'd say."

"A tree?" Scorpius said, bewildered.

"Yeah. Nothin' too frilly, big owls don't do good with names like those. But a tree… it's strong and tall. Sweet, though. Tha's what I've heard, anyhow."

Scorpius tilted his head to one side, thoughtful.

Rose, who had been smiling through the visit, tugged on a piece of her hair. "I'm really sorry, Hagrid, but we have to go," she said.

"Do yeh now?" Rose nodded.

"Alrigh' then. I'll be seein' you lot soon," Hagrid said. He stood up, opening the door. A swirl of cold air broke in. "Bye, Scorpius, Albus. Good-night, Rosie!"

"Bye!" they called back.

"A tree…" Scorpius mused. "I kind of like that."

"Hagrid always has the best name ideas," Rose said.

"What about Oak?" Albus said. It was the first tree he thought of.

"Too short," Scorpius said. "I know! I'll name her Willow."

"I like it," Rose said. Albus nodded his agreement. Willow was the perfect name.

"So, Dumbledore told your dad about whatever Safe-Objects are," Scorpius said as they continued their walk. Albus was walking on his right, in between Rose and Scorpius. A few students were outside, mainly first years, gazing up at the sky and hoping for snow.

"We already knew that," Albus said, not caring much about this so-called discovery.

"We did?"

"Well, it's practically a given."

"Given or not, lessons with Dumbledore is a pretty big secret," Rose said.

"Not really. Think about it. He was randomly disappearing, probably being called to the Headmaster's office… some of the students were bound to notice something weird."

"Yeah, but he probably learned about more than just Safe-Objects." Rose's voice sounded bitter and sarcastic, the way it did when she was annoyed.

"And how much would that have to do with Delphi?" Albus challenged.

"I don't know, it could have a ton to do with Delphi!" Rose had stopped walking altogether now, and had turned to face Albus head-on.

"And then we'd have wasted our time!" Albus said, making wild hand gestures to help prove his point.

"As if learning is a waste of time!"

"Sometimes it is!"

"Well, I don't-"

But before Rose could sputter out a retort, Scorpius wheeled around, facing them both. The red on his cheeks was not just from the cold, but from anger too. "Stop," he said. "Just stop it. There's no point in arguing."

Rose and Albus both fell silent after that, and the walk to the castle was completed with the fight echoing in all their minds. Albus felt bad about almost ruining the fragile friendship with Rose, strung together with nothing but a few regrets. Rose was merely ashamed of being caught yelling, a prefect as she was.

There was not one word spoken about the biting cold, not one word whispered about the sudden winds that swept over them. Even when a few lone snowflakes fell from the sky, there was silence. Not even the first snow of the season could make them feel any better.


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry for the late update (again). Now that this chapter's out, enjoy!**

* * *

Harry entered the meeting room to find it was empty, save Hermione, who was scribbling on a sheet of parchment. She sat at the head of a table set with many chairs, almost too many for the small room to hold.

"Hi, Harry," she said, setting down her quill.

"Ready?" he asked grimly, taking the seat to her left.

"We better be."

Harry nodded. The investigation of Delphi had taken longer than anyone estimated, and was postponed once due to storms on the small island of Azkaban. Whatever had been discovered would be discussed today, and no matter what it was, Harry had to act like nothing surprised him. Even if it had something to do with Voldemort, as unlikely as it was, the slightest bit of emotion from him would cause a week's worth drama from the _Prophet._

Harry's eyes found the clock on the wall as they waited for the Aurors to arrive. Hermione finished what she was writing, and tucked the parchment into her bag. Harry thought he saw the words " _Dear Rose,"_ at the top, but didn't say anything.

"They better not be late," Hermione said in a hollow joke to fill the room.

"No," Harry agreed, once again glancing at the clock. Two minutes to three. Hermione's gaze turned to the clock as well, and they watched as the second hand spun around once. The last minute seemed to tick on forever. The second hand was at the six… now the seven… the eight… the nine… finally, when it was at the ten, with only ten seconds before all the Aurors were declared late, the door opened and a group of them rushed in.

Seats were taken hastily, and by the time their group was complete, the clock had ticked its way to three 'o clock. Perfect timing. Hermione gave her usual let's-have-a-productive meeting speech, which everyone knew no one listened to, but no one bothered to make her stop.

"You may now begin the report," Hermione concluded, nodding to the investigation leader. She was a short woman with dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes framed by thick glasses. She was on the Head Auror Committee (something Harry himself had created), and often lead the investigations, especially those to Azkaban.

"Nothing," she said bluntly. "We have no idea what happened to her." There was a murmur of agreement from the Aurors at this.

"We found one thing," one of the younger Aurors volunteers. Harry doesn't recognise him; his light brown hair and gray eyes are unfamiliar. "It started at the beginning of October, and happens for short periods of time several times a day."

"We already knew when it was happening," an older Auror interjects. Harry knows this man; he was a trainee a few months into Harry's career as Head Auror.

"I think it's important," the first Auror says. He straightens his back as he speaks in a mannerism Harry had seen before.

"All matters spoken of today will be taken into full account before the investigation conclusion is written," Hermione said. "Are there any last comments?" This was met with silence, and Hermione gave a slight nod. "Meeting adjourned."

There was a collective standing up of the group, and they began to file out of the door. As Harry's feet passed the threshold, a tap on his shoulder drew his attention. It was the young Auror he didn't know.

"Have we met?" the man asked lightly, laughter at the edge of his voice. His smile was a mischievous one Harry knew all too well, and his suspicions were soon confirmed. The man blinked, and his eyes changed to the brown favoured by Harry's godson. Blue started to creep in from the roots of his hair

"It appears so," Harry said dryly, leaving enough mirth his tone to tell Teddy it was all in good fun. Most of the Aurors were gone now, done the hallway to their offices.

"Bye," Teddy said, following the rest of the Aurors.

"Try to come over soon," Harry reminded Teddy, then walked down the hall in the opposite direction.

* * *

Albus rested his head in his hand, watching Professor McGonagall give her lesson. Only parts of her lecture were heard by him, he'd had yet another Invisible Dementor (Rose's name for the flashes of misery) in the hall, and was now suffering the succeeding headache. November had soon faded into December, bringing with it fine snow that drifted from the sky often. The new month had also seen the onslaught of more and more Invisible Dementors, mysterious phantoms that seemed to drift around Albus, waiting to attack.

"Mr. Potter, if you're not planning on paying attention to my lesson, why are taking this class?" Professor McGonagall asked, having walked over to Albus' desk.

"Sorry, Professor, headache," he said.

"Do you need the hospital wing?"

"No."

"Then I expect you to pay attention."

"Yes, Professor. Sorry."

After class ended, Rose and Scorpius joined Albus, looking worried.

"Are you okay?" Rose asked him.

"I'm fine."

"Yes, but this is happening more and more often."

"I'm fine," Albus repeated. "Here, Scorpius and I have a free class now, so we can try to find more clues about Voldemort. Happy?"

"Yes," Rose huffed. "Tell me what you come up with."

"If we find anything," said Scorpius, reminding them all how little they had found. Each day was spent pouring over books, searching the rooms of Hogwarts, and pondering the shred of information they had. So far, none of them had any revelations about what could be going on. It was awful. Whereas two months ago Albus was loathe to admit his curiosity, he would now openly discuss their meager findings with Rose and Scorpius.

OoOoO

"Did you find anything today?" Rose asked as Scorpius and Albus joined her in the library.

"No," said Albus. Rose's face didn't even fall; it was an answer they were all used to hearing.

"We need to change tactics," Rose declared, after a moment's thought.

"What, start looking in Muggle books?" Albus asked sarcastically.

"No, start talking."

"We are talking."

"Not just with ourselves," Rose said, looking Albus dead in the eye. Her brow was furrowed, not with worry, but with defeat. She truly had given up at the library.

"What, then?" Scorpius said. "We just waltz up to McGonagall and say 'Hey, do know anything about Voldemort, the super-evil wizard, and his super-evil creations? Oh, and by the way, don't tell us about Safe-Objects, we know they aren't real!'" Scorpius had a fake smile stuck on his face, and let it drift away quickly. "No, we can't. She'd tell our parents right away."

"Well, we won't need someone telling our parents for us," Rose muttered, looking down at her book, waiting for them to put two and two together.

"Rose, are you saying what I think you're saying?" Albus asked, his voice suddenly clipped and raised an octave.

"That we have to ask our parents? Yeah." She cringed a bit at the last word, afraid of Albus' reaction.

"Okay," he said. "Okay. I can live with that. They had the answers. You'll ask during winter break and-"

"I think you should," Rose said.

"What?"

"Because Uncle Harry… your dad… he's bound to know more than either of my parents. Think about it. He probably doesn't know every detail himself, and it's clearly very complicated, and imagine trying to explain it to someone, they've got to be confused about something."

"Yes, but we don't need every detail."

"Who knows. We might someday. And don't you think it'd be easier to get it all now? One conversation, not five."

"Okay, but… what do we need to know?"

"You'll know what to ask," Scorpius said.

"Will I?"

"Of course," Rose reassured.

"Any more stunning revelations for us, Rose?" Scorpius teased.

"Actually, yes. All this stuff with the Safe-Objects? It's got me thinking. Mum said Delphi was raging, and one of the things she said was something about trying to follow in Voldemort's footsteps. If Safe-Objects are his footsteps, where are hers?"

Gray started to creep into Albus' vision, forming a solid stone wall in front of him, and again the wails began. He could hear waves in the distance, and then the misery came. It was awful. The faces of a man and a woman, that scared him an irrational amount. They had menacing voices and their expressions taunted him.

"Are you okay?" Scorpius asked, pulling Albus out of the nightmare.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Albus rubbed his muscles, always sore after the harrowing experience.

"Another Invisible Dementor?" Rose said. Albus nodded.

"As long as it doesn't hurt you," Rose sighed. "Just… Ask your dad about the Safe-Objects as soon as you can."


	10. Chapter 10

"Last Hogsmeade visit until the hols is next week," Scorpius told Albus as the two sat, doing their homework, in their common room.

"And why do we care?"

"We don't. Although Rose did say she would stay behind with us."

"If she wants to search more, tell her no thanks. I'll ask my dad in a few weeks, and then we'll be done."

"We might just do homework together or something, or hang out in the library."

"Again, why do we care? Besides, Rose will have her homeworks finished by then."

"I know. Do you know what you're going to say to your dad?"

"No, I'll figure it out soon. Knowing Rose, that'll be what she wants to talk about."

OoOoO

A week later, Albus and Scorpius sat in the library, waiting for Rose. Lily, who had been banned from this visit for exploding a potion, was with them. She was reading, and not paying any attention to Rose's absence.

"Do you know where Rose is?" Albus asked her finally.

"Oh, she didn't tell you?" Lily looked up from her book. "She got asked out, and thought you two would be okay on your own, so…" Lily drifted off, going back to her book.

"She should've told us," Albus grumbled. "Right, Scorpius?"

"Yeah…" Scorpius seemed a little dazed.

"Back to the common room?" Albus guessed. Scorpius nodded, and the two got up and left.

Scorpius remained silent, and Albus, not really knowing what to say, let the wordlessness stew about them.

OoOoO

"I'm sorry for ditching you guys yesterday," Rose apologised. "Daniel waited til the last possible second to ask me out so I didn't have time to tell you. Scorpius, will stop rolling your eyes at me like that?"

"As soon as you stop acting this was out of your control."

"Well, what was I supposed to say? Because, surprise! I actually wanted to go on a date with Daniel. Now I have to get to class. I happen to value Ancient Runes over a free period. Or Divination."

Rose left, leaving Scorpius and Albus standing awkwardly in the corridor, a few steps from the stairs leading to the Slytherin common room. Albus shook his head slightly, trying to rid himself of the Invisible Dementor fog threatening to take over. It hadn't become more frequent, but the episodes had lengthened, and he'd found he could now walk during them. He was unsure of whether this was good or bad.

"Daniel Proff!" Scorpius exclaimed. "She fancies Daniel Proff! That stupid Hufflepuff who's always moping about how many students are accepted into Hogwarts. I'm sorry, but I'd rather share a dorm with one extra person than have untrained witches and wizards gallivanting around the country."

"Yeah, I am kinda shocked… listen, I still need to pack for break, we're leaving in two days," Albus said, walking towards the stairs.

"I'm off to Divination, see you at dinner."

Albus nodded, and headed down to the common room. There weren't many others on free period, and after he'd packed as much as he could, he wandered around, at loss for what to do. The dementor's presence pressed against his consciousness, trying to force its way through. It was giving him a headache, and he was using up too much energy trying to prevent it.

As the howls and shrieks and waves of misery and trauma took over his mind, Albus was vaguely aware of his feet walking. He felt himself ascend the stairs and enter his dorm. After that, everything went dark.

OoOoO

"Albus… Albus…"

"What?"

"You missed dinner."

"Oh. Why am lying in the middle of the dorm?"

"I have no idea," Scorpius said. "But Rose is freaking out, she thinks you're possessed by a pixie-demon or something insane like that."

Albus sat up, his arms and back aching from the hardwood floor he'd been laying on.

"Should I see Madam Pomfrey?" Albus asked.

"I thought you didn't want anyone to know."

"Yeah, well, my all-over hurts, I've probably been smashed on the floor for an hour or two."

"Let's go tell her you fell off the ceiling."

"You can't fall off a ceiling."

"I'm sure someone at Hogwarts has fallen off the ceiling before."

OoOoO

The next week, Albus was stuck at home with just his parents. James was MIA, and Lily was visiting a friend. This made it prime time to ask his dad about Safe-Objects. Which he was really starting to dread.

"Hey, Dad…" he said, wandering into the office. Harry was filing papers, and laying out parchment for the ink to dry.

"Yeah? Actually, can you wait a moment, I have to…" Harry reorganised a stack of parchment in a way that Albus thought was meant to hide the writing on top. "Alright, there. Now, what were you saying?"

"Um, I was wondering about… Safe-Objects? They just don't seem very real and you… obviously know what they actually were?" Albus heard his voice raise like a question, and there was a dreadful moment of silence betweens Harry's reaction and Albus' dying train of thought.

"Well, I technically won't die if I tell you, so… promise not tell anyone else?" Harry was smiling and, Albus had no idea why. Hadn't he just asked about the most evil objects possible?

"Scorpius and Rose?" Albus squeaked out. He was slightly intimidated by both the prospect of the following information, and his dad's attitude.

"Fine, but you know muffliato, right? Speaking of which…" Harry took his wand from his desk and waved it around the room a few times, muttering under his breath.

"What do you mean, you won't technically die?" Albus asked, the information catching up to him.

"Secrets, Unbreakable Vows, the whole ordeal. We'll be fine. As long as I remember to send a Patronus. Don't let me forget to send a Patronus."

"Okay…" Albus agreed, deciding to accept that his father was weird.

"Voldemort made six of them. And he didn't tie his life to them. He tied his soul to them. And they're actually called Horcruxes."

"But can't you live without a soul? Because, I mean, dementors, and well…"

"Ah. Yes. But you can't die with a soul. Anyway, it not really tying, it's more like literally putting a piece of your soul into an object."

"So it's like you've been Kissed by a dementor?"

"No. You keep part of your soul in your body. Then, all of those objects, and your body, need to be destroyed in order for you to die."

"Then you'd have to split your soul, right?"

"Yes. And that's part of what makes it so evil. Deliberately splitting your soul…"

"How does that happen?"

"Dumbledore thought it meant killing someone. Voldemort, too."

"Murder? I guess that makes sense."

"I don't agree with them. I think your soul splits when you believe you have done the worst thing you could possibly do to someone else. Anyone creating Horcruxes is after immortality, so to them, murder is the worst they could do. And the only way to know for sure if your soul is split is if you can create a Horcrux."

"The worst thing you could do to someone? I don't know what that would be, though… killing makes sense, but-"

"-there's so much more that could happen. Maybe using any of the Unforgivables, or causes someone bankruptcy, or giving them a disability. They may not be necessarily worse than death to the person, but if they are to you… your soul splits."

"So then what? You have a split soul, and you can put the pieces into objects."

"Or snakes, it you're stupid enough."

"Snakes?"

"Voldemort's pet. Almost anything can become a Horcrux."

"Oh. What were Voldemort's?" Albus thought he might be asking too much, but Rose had said they needed as many details as they could get. And the conversation had gone well so far.

"Three artifacts from the Hogwarts founders, one from each expect Gryffindor; a Gaunt family heirloom; his pet snake; and his diary."

Albus, who hadn't been expecting an answer, was counting on his fingers. "That's six Horcruxes! He split his soul into six parts!"

"Seven, actually. He kept one piece in his body."

"Oh. Well, thanks. I didn't think you'd even tell me."

"I really don't mind."

As Albus left the room, he remembered something. "Patronus, Dad."

"Right," Harry said, nodding. "You might have just saved my life."

O0OoO

Harry cast a Patronus, and sent the faithful stag along with its message. He had twenty-four hours after telling anyone to notify Ron or Hermione, or else he'd broken the Vow. Which would have been very, very bad.

He couldn't quite believe that Albus had asked him about them. It was, Harry realised, only the fourth time he'd ever told anybody. It was also the most calm he had been. The only others who knew were Ron, Hermione, Professor McGonagall, Neville and Ginny. Albus would tell Scorpius and Rose, and then even more would know.

Much to Harry's surprise, James had never questioned the legitimacy of Safe-Objects. He'd expected James' curiosity to take him to the question, but perhaps James was rather lacking there. Albus, on the contrary, had always been wondering about everything. It made Harry wonder if curiosity was a Slytherin trait. He'd always assumed it was just human.

* * *

 **So... 7-10 days... I honestly don't know why it took me so long to update this. I'll try to update soon, but we'll see. Thank you for reading, and please review!**


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